The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck Review

Hello, my name is Faith and I've been managing depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember but I am not a mental health professional. If you need help finding a mental health care provider call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit BetterHelp to talk to a certified therapist online at an affordable price. This post contains affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure policy here.

I really enjoyed this book and thought it had a unique style. There are so many self-help books about happiness that feel really superficial to me. This book made me feel inspired in an authentic way that didn’t feel fake or cheesy. However, if you don’t like profanity you will not like this book. It is packed full of F-bombs. This was the first audiobook I listened to all the way through and I enjoyed listening to the audio a lot more than I thought I would. I listened to it with headphones on while I raked all the leaves out of my yard and I found it really relaxing. I love when you find multitasking that actually works. I listened to my book while I was doing annoying everyday tasks like doing the dishes or putting on my makeup. I find making good use of my time really satisfying. However, I finished this whole book in a week while doing household chores and I think it’s a great use of time. I use Scribd to listen to all of my audiobooks now. If you haven’t checked it out I highly recommend it. It’s like Netflix but for ebooks and audiobooks. For less than nine bucks a month you get unlimited audiobooks. Check it out free for 30 days here.

“Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame.”

“Pain is an inextricable thread in the fabric of life, and to tear it out is not only impossible, but destructive: attempting to tear it out unravels everything else with it. To try to avoid pain is to give too many fucks about pain. In contrast, if you’re able to not give a fuck about the pain, you become unstoppable.”

“You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of fucks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a fuck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice—well, then you’re going to get fucked.”

“Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame. Pain is an inextricable thread in the fabric of life, and to tear it out is not only impossible, but destructive: attempting to tear it out unravels everything else with it. To try to avoid pain is to give too many fucks about pain. In contrast, if you’re able to not give a fuck about the pain, you become unstoppable.” “Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”

“Unhealthy love is based on two people trying to escape their problems through their emotions for each other—in other words, they’re using each other as an escape. Healthy love is based on two people acknowledging and addressing their own problems with each other’s support.”

“Because when we give too many fucks, when we choose to give a fuck about everything, then we feel as though we are perpetually entitled to feel comfortable and happy at all times, that’s when life fucks us.”

“You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of fucks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a fuck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice—well, then you’re going to get fucked.”

“Our crisis is no longer material; it’s existential, it’s spiritual. We have so much fucking stuff and so many opportunities that we don’t even know what to give a fuck about anymore.”

“Travel is a fantastic self-development tool, because it extricates you from the values of your culture and shows you that another society can live with entirely different values and still function and not hate themselves. This exposure to different cultural values and metrics then forces you to reexamine what seems obvious in your own life and to consider that perhaps it’s not necessarily the best way to live.”

If you decide to read the book let me know what you think! I thought it had a lot of fresh perspectives and found it pretty inspirational. Self-help is a hard market to stand out in and I thought this book did a good job offering something unique and fresh. I’m on the hunt for a new self-help book so let me know what you think I should read next. If you’re looking for more book recommendation check out my favorites here.

I am not a licensed therapist or mental health professional. If you are suffering from a major disorder and need treatment please seek the help of a professional. If you need help finding a mental health care provider call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit BetterHelp to talk to a certified therapist online at an affordable price. This post contains affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure policy here.

Radical Transformation Project is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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Hello, I'm Faith and I've been managing depression and anxiety my whole damn life. I'm on a mission to share everything I've learned on my mental health journey with other bad ass women and help them live their best lives. Read More…